Research: Women Crave Brands With Healthy Options

Walmart, Target, and Verizon topped The Women at NBCU Brand Power Index, but food brands with healthy offerings made a strong impression on female consumers, even if the brand is not known for being good for you.

Looking at data from July to December 2010, McDonald’s moved 10 places up the index after the fast-food company partnered with Farmville and started emphasizing fresh produce. Wendy’s also moved up after it began highlighting its salads and promoting “natural-cut” fries. (We’re still unclear about what a “natural cut” French fry is, but OK.)

Domino’s Pizza, Nestlé, and Frito Lay also made moves on the index.

“What’s particularly interesting about the index findings is that some fast food brands are generating more buzz for their healthy products than other brands more commonly associated with health and wellness,” Melissa Lavigne-Delville, VP of trends and strategic insights for Women at NBCU said in a statement.

“This is a great illustration of the power of positive brand equity, which can be leveraged to launch new products and help companies enter areas of the market not typical to their business.”

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